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Will Alsop's Kensington Market is a neighbourhood at risk

If Will Alsop had done nothing in Toronto after the "flying tabletop" at OCAD, his contribution would be enshrined forever.

But the London-based architect/artist remains committed to this city. As well as opening an office here, he is working on several other projects and, last week, opened his first exhibition of artworks at the Olga Korper Gallery.

Though it may not be immediately apparent, the subject of these multi-layered, multimedia pieces is our very own Kensington Market, a neighbourhood Alsop loves but also one he worries about.

"What interests me," he explains, "is that Kensington's so lively. But it manages to be vibrant by anti-design. At the same time, you know that developers are assembling sites as we speak. It's going to change. That makes me nervous. There's also a strong community in Kensington that will resist change. That's not good either. We need to figure out what we can do to make it better."

Being as much an anarchist as an artist or architect, Alsop's ideas aren't likely to be embraced by all Torontonians. As he points out, this city's openness to projects such as the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal, the Frank Gehry remake of the Art Gallery of Ontario and his own building on stilts at the Ontario College of Art and Design is a recent phenomenon.

"Toronto's still quite delicate in its newfound bravery," Alsop notes. "What I see here is a residue of colonialism."

The knee-jerk negativity of the reaction to Daniel Libeskind's Crystal at the Royal Ontario Museum points to the provincialism Alsop sees.

"It's fantastic," he says. "You can tell it suffered through a few budget cuts, but it's clearly an important building."

Given that so much of the criticism comes from the local architectural community, Alsop's willingness to praise the Crystal puts him in a category of his own.

But, Alsop insists, "I like it here. I feel comfortable. Toronto is an international city and that's the measure of things."

Certainly, he seemed comfortable at the opening of his show last week, surrounded by dozens of admirers and his ever-present entourage. Judging from the number of pieces marked sold, those in attendance liked what they saw.

The works themselves are more whimsical than anything. Alsop works by adding layer upon layer, often starting with geometrical patterns vaguely reminiscent of architectural drawings. Above them float images and shapes intended to conjure up the experience of Kensington, which is messy, unplanned and full of variety.

The same could be said of Alsop's approach to architecture. His greatest strength is that he doesn't suffer from the fear of failure that hobbles most practitioners. It's no wonder the work of so many architects is conservative to the point of dullness; they are trained to follow their clients' bidding and are, therefore, unwilling to take risks.

Alsop is happiest when pushing boundaries and dispensing with expectations. Being essentially playful helps; this is one designer who manages to be outrageous and reassuring at the same time.

There's no better monument to these remarkable skills than the Ontario College of Art and Design building; if any other architect had proposed a similar scheme – a building on stilts – the neighbours would have screamed bloody murder. Instead, the residents were the first to take credit for the project. Now that's brilliant.

With this exhibition, provocatively titled "Cultural Fog," Alsop establishes himself as a Torontonian in spirit if not in law. This may not be home, but it feels like it.

The show continues at the Olga Korper Gallery (17 Morrow Ave.) until July 28. chume@thestar.ca

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